Why are there only two cities in the future? (spoilers)

Who would have predicted that Leningrad would make a comeback in the 23rd century?

I think the main reason for the lack of Earth-based diversity is pretty simple: Star Trek is, as things stand, a Western show aimed at Western audiences. Studios and directors share a fear, most probably unwarranted, that moving the focus away from Europe or North America will alienate vast swathes of the public in those two continents.

Of course, this is a damned stupid assumption. Setting a scene in future Tokyo or future Beijing would have no impact on the film's reception in the West, but it will boost the Box Office numbers in South East Asia.

Who would have predicted that Leningrad would make a comeback in the 23rd century?

I think the main reason for the lack of Earth-based diversity is pretty simple: Star Trek is, as things stand, a Western show aimed at Western audiences. Studios and directors share a fear, most probably unwarranted, that moving the focus away from Europe or North America will alienate vast swathes of the public in those two continents.

Of course, this is a damned stupid assumption. Setting a scene in future Tokyo or future Beijing would have no impact on the film's reception in the West, but it will boost the Box Office numbers in South East Asia.

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To be fair, they are destroying those Western cities. I'm sure Asian fans would rather not see that happen to their cities in a movie (Godzilla did enough in Tokyo).

There's a grand total of fewer than five hours of film between the two flicks, so the fact that we've gotten three Earth locations ought to be good enough, really. Especially when, uh, one of the biggest complaints going into STID was that it's so Earth-centric!

You'd think that San Franciscans and Londoners would be proud that their cities survived Trek's WWIII intact. (I figure they had to - there's no way cities that big could be completely rebuilt from scratch in only 200 years.)

Whatever befall some of the cities of Earth in the 21st century, it probably wasn't climate change. Florida looks fabulous in the mid-22nd century.

According to the latest calculations, our Florida will be flooded by the rising sea waters, and, by the mid-22nd century, what was a state will be an archipelago of crumbling buildings. Breakwaters aren't going to save Miami - it sits on a porous limestone foundation.

Whatever befall some of the cities of Earth in the 21st century, it probably wasn't climate change. Florida looks fabulous in the mid-22nd century.

According to the latest calculations, our Florida will be flooded by the rising sea waters, and, by the mid-22nd century, what was a state will be an archipelago of crumbling buildings. Breakwaters aren't going to save Miami - it sits on a porous limestone foundation.

Would Starfleet even be allowed to spread all across Earth? That's like letting the garrison just outside your city take over every bar, hotel and bank by maintaining a block-by-block presence.

Sacrificing just one city apparently completely to the military is probably plenty enough.

OTOH, the Admiralty holding a secret meeting after an attack is a rather unlikely prospect. These are supposed to be the people who defend the universe; in case of an attack, they should be dressing in their showiest uniforms and parading the streets. The civilian politicians might be shuffled to some safe house at the outskirts of Ulan Bator, where their decisions will not distract Adm. Marcus from ruling with his iron grip.

Well Paris is one of the more popular cities to destroy. Along with places like New York, London and Tokyo. But I guess it comes down to a story telling point of view. Certain cities are more regonised globally.

Well Paris is one of the more popular cities to destroy. Along with places like New York, London and Tokyo. But I guess it comes down to a story telling point of view. Certain cities are more regonised globally.

And there's that. It's worse than that even – the Ancient Greeks were aliens, the Romans were aliens, the Native Americans were aliens and we even got Nazi Germans who were aliens. It's like those people and places never existed on planet Earth. To make several stories set in Ancient Greek setting, yet never ever visit the actual Ancient Greece down here, keeping it all in US-era North America? That's just not right.

Then again, holodeck Ireland was enough of an embarrassment, so one can be kinda glad they don't exist in Star Trek. And I doubt anyone would be doing this kind of time travel Trek stories any time soon, so whatever.

Besides, explaining why they spoke English in 16th century China would be even more difficult than explaining why aliens all over the galaxy speak English. They already confused that poor Japanese fellow enough with having Amelia Earhart speak perfect Japanese. I wonder, does the universal translator work for lip readers? I've been forever confused by how not only I hear English, but I see their lips move in English. And if they didn't, it would be a dead giveaway.